Chapter 27
Waving at Low, she runs over to the passenger side of my car. We don’t say anything as I pull out of the parking lot and start heading towards the compound.
“Why are we going there? When’s the last time you actually saw your brothers?”
“Not since the wedding, but it’s their birthday. I have to go and I need you to go with me.”
“Why?”
“So if Eli shows up, you can keep me from fucking him again.”
“Have you seen him lately?”
Shaking my head quickly as I pull off the freeway.
We fall silent as I pull into the compound, coming to a stop in front of the house.
“I don’t want to go in.”
“Do you see his truck?”
“No, thank God.”
Walking into the house, my brothers look over, nodding before moving over and hugging us.
“Damn, you would think for 2 guys who were finally happy, you’d be happier.”
“Sorry, just some shit going on,” Zeke tells me. “Someone just got released… again.”
“From where?” I ask for a second before realizing and looking over at Z. “You got arrested again?”
He just shrugs his shoulders.
“For what?”
Neither of them answers, but I hear Tate walking down the stairs as she enters the living room.
“He took care of my ex.”
“Then how were you released if you did it?”
“The evidence was compromised.” Zeke laughs, looking over at Z.
“How?”
“Not sure.” Zeke answers.
“I am,” Z whispers, shaking his head, guilt all over him. “It was Eli. He showed up here a few weeks ago, warning me they had something and were going to have me under surveillance for a while. I finally get arrested, and miraculously the evidence is gone, and now so is he.”
“What?” I gasp, asking him. I can feel Low looking at me just out of view of the rest of them. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“I went by his place earlier. His bike’s there, but him and his truck aren’t.” He pauses. “I asked Sherri to find him. Just got off the phone with her; he was arrested for tampering with evidence. I guess they had a video from somewhere near the prison.”
“How is that evidence?” I ask him.
“It wouldn’t have stuck. At least Sherri doesn’t think so. It puts me near the prison; I know the COs since I was held there, and…”
“And what?”
“This dumbass took Darren’s ring and has been parading it around.” Tate laughs as she sits down on the couch next to him.
We’re driving out of the compound as I look over at Low. “We’ve gotta make a detour.”
“You’re about to do something dumb, aren’t you?”
“Nope,” I shake my head. “I’m just going to do a thing.”
Pulling up into the parking lot, she looks at me, shaking her head. “Just go talk to him. You don’t have to do all this.”
“Shut up.” Glowering at her and standing from the car.
“Drew?” my name’s called after the car pulls up next to us, and Sherri gets out. “What are you doing here?”
“I was wondering. I’ve been thinking about an internship. I was wondering if you had anything for us?”
“Drew!” Low shouts from the car.
I just wave her off.
“Yeah,” she nods her head. “Of course.” She pauses, looking into the car and nodding. “You guys come by on Monday.” She starts to walk inside and pauses, looking back at us again. “Actually, I could use your help with something. Come up.”
Glancing in the car, I look at Low and nod.
“No. I have to study for the bar.” She glares at me.
“So do I. What better way to study than to get actual advice and hands-on experience?”
“Seriously? You’re doing all this so you don’t have to talk to him?”
“Low.” I give her a sad look, and she rolls her eyes, pulling herself out of the car and walking with me up to the front of the building.
“You know why he did it, right?” She whispers to me as we open the door.
“Because he’s loyal to my brother.” I tell her as we step onto the elevator with Sherri.
“No,” she scoffs. “He’s trying to keep you from getting hurt.”
The lift stops at the floor, the doors opening, and Sherri’s almost through the threshold of the doors when she stops, turning and looking at us.
“I don’t know what’s going on. Or even why exactly you’re here.
” She pauses. “At this point, we’re essentially family, so you’re more than welcome to be here, but I have a couple of rules.
Do not put my practice at risk and do not make me lie to your brother.
So, I don’t want to know what’s going on with this conversation. ”
“Okay.” I laugh as she nods her head, exiting the elevator, and we follow behind.
“I actually just got off the phone with Z, who sent me on a wild goose chase this morning trying to find…” She pauses as she shifts some files.
“Elias Leech.”
“Yeah.” She looks over at me as we follow her into the office.
“We all grew up together.”
“Makes sense.” She nods her head. “He’s being charged with tampering with evidence. I just met with him, and… shit.” She pauses. “Hold on.” She holds up a finger as she looks at her computer screen. Clicking her mouse several times before she quickly stands, leaving the room.
“How the fuck did I go with you to your brother’s house and now I’m being volunteered for working for free?”
“You love me.”
“And that’s the only reason I’m still here.”
Sherri walks back in after a couple of minutes with 2 stacks of papers. “Here.” She says.
“What’s this?”
“Most of this you can fill out and bring back on Monday. Sign the top one so we can talk about what’s going on.”
“What is it?” Low asks before she looks at it.
“An NDA.” She pauses. “It’s 20 dollars an hour; you can work whatever hours you want.”
“Really?” Low sounds shocked.
“Yeah. It’s mostly making copies and filing, but occasionally I need some extra eyes.” She nods down at the papers.
Handing her the top paper after I scribble on it, Low follows behind.
“Good.”
“The non-profit is fronting the money for this case.”
“Of course they are.”
Sherri gives me a questioning look. “Anyway, I just met with him. He told me he’s going to plea.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” she nods her head, suspiciously looking at me. “Z gave me specific instructions that we do everything to make sure he doesn’t serve any time.”
“I thought you had to do what the client wanted?”
“Yeah… about that.” She laughs. “We also want our clients to get the best possible outcome. Remember when Tate was adamant on helping your brother?”
“Yeah.”
“Z insisted on not letting her take the stand. Because he knew how they’d treat her.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we came up with the plan together for her to go to the prosecution. She’d make sure not to give them any information beyond what they specifically were asking.” She laughs. “Then, she and I talked about what I’d ask her on cross.”
“You guys played them?”
“Yeah,” she laughs, nodding her head. “It was a way to let her help him without directly going against his wishes. Eli was actually in on it. He’s who fed the prosecution the idea to call her. They didn’t have to call her, but she let them have the right information for them to want her up there.”
“He was pissed off about that.”
“I know.” She shakes her head. “He hasn’t spoken to me until this morning, actually.”
“Is that legal?” Low asks.
“It’s not illegal,” she shrugs. “Morally questionable, maybe.”
It makes me laugh.
“When I called Z and told him Eli wanted to plead. Z gave me the same threat.”
“And how do we do that?” Low asks.
“I don’t know… yet.” She pauses, handing us the file. “Which is why I need you guys to go through it and see if you can come up with anything. I’ll call you when I get discovery.”
“Has he already been arraigned?”
“No.” she shakes her head. “It probably won’t be until Monday.”
“What? Why?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Cause of the matter, they’re gonna let him suffer.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“Yeah. It is.” She nods her head. “That’s part of the reason I do this. Honestly, I watched your family get mistreated the most by law enforcement, and I wanted to help people dealing with that.”
“I get that.”
* * *
The knocking on my window startles me before I unlock it, letting Low into the car.
“You didn’t have to come.”
“Yes, I did.” She gives me a look.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Come on, you’re about to go sit in a courtroom watching your ex, whose tooth you still wear around your neck, get arraigned for a crime he did… for you.”
“He didn’t do it for me. He was protecting Z, that’s it. He always protects Z.”
“Whatever.” She shakes her head.
“Seriously, I’m good. You can go back.”
“Drew, you fall apart every time you see him. You guys broke up almost a year ago, and you’re still hung up on him. I’ve never seen you like this before.” She laughs as she looks over.
“Shit,” I mumble as I watch Z get off his bike, making his way over to Sherri before they both walk inside.
“Actually, come to think of it. I’ve never even seen you date anyone seriously.”
“Yeah, and I probably won’t again.”
“The only way I’m not going to see you with someone else is if you and Eli don’t get back together.” She gives me a comforting look. “Come on, let’s go inside, sneak in the back.”
Nodding my head as I unbuckle my seatbelt, exiting the car.
“Come on,” Low pulls me in, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “I’m here for you.”
“Thanks, but we need to avoid both Z and Sherri. She told us we didn’t have to come, so she will have questions. Which would then make her —”
“Have to lie to your brother.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll stay out of sight and sneak out before they leave.” She laughs as we open the door entering the courthouse.
“Drew? Low?” Z’s voice calls out as we round the corner. “What are you guys doing here?”
I stand wide-eyed, just staring at my brother, not sure what to say.
“Oh, good!” Sherri comes around his side. “You guys were able to make it.” She turns to look at my brother. “They’re actually interning for me, and I told them to come if they could.”
As he nods to her explanation, before looking down at his phone. “I’ll be right back. I just need to take this.”
We remain silent as he walks toward the front of the courthouse.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t lie to him?”
“I don’t know why you guys are here. And I don’t really care.”
“Eli’s my ex, and Z doesn’t know.” It falls out of my mouth.
Sighing, she looks up towards the ceiling and sighs. “Nope, I didn’t want to know that.”
“And she’s still in love with him.”
“Fuck my life.” Sherri mumbles before she shakes her head, looking back down at me. “Actually, this could help. Find something in the discovery to get him out.”
“Please don’t say anything.” I beg her.
“Why is this family always so messy?” she nods to herself.
“You know how he can get. He’s gonna freak out.”
“Fine, but this is the only one.”
“Got it. Thank you.”
“Come on. Let’s go in.”
Glancing behind me, I see that Z’s now walking back up to where we are.
I’m sitting between Low and Z in the front row, as Sherri sits at the table on the other side of the railing.
I’ve sat in enough courtrooms waiting for an arraignment over the years; I’m used to this feeling.
“Ugh,” Z starts, looking over at me. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I ask him.
“I haven’t been on this side in a long time; I forgot how stressful it is.”
“It’s fine.” I laugh. “I mean, the last time was a lot more stressful; you were facing life in prison...”
“Again, sorry.” Just shaking his head. “Why didn’t you tell me about the internship?”
“Ugh, it’s new. I’d been thinking about one and honestly Sherri slipped my mind until you brought her up the other day.”
We’re cut off by the sound of the side door opening, and I have to hide my reaction as I see Eli walk into the room, cuffed and in a jumpsuit.
I’m not sure who he’s more surprised to see here, Z or me.
Subconsciously, I grab Low’s hand and shake my head just enough for him to see, trying to tell him not to plead, wait it out, wait for us to find something.
“Sherri said he wants to plead.”
“I know,” nodding my head. “She told us.”
“Right, interning.” He nods again.
“Elias Leech.” The judge finally calls him. “You are being charged with tampering with evidence. Do you understand the charges?”
“Yes.” He stands up, looking forward.
“How do you plead?”
He looks in our direction, but catches himself before and sighs. I can feel the conflicting thoughts in his mind.
“Mr. Leech?”
“Not guilty.”
As the words leave Eli’s mouth, I can audible hear Z’s relief. “Thank fucking God,” he mumbles to himself.
“Okay,” the judge says as she shuffles some paperwork. “Next court appearance in 60 days.” She pauses. “Bail denied.”
“Your Honor!” Sherri shouts as Z and I look at one another.
“Your client has been a police officer for the last 10 years and has ties to a criminal organization. He has no strings tying him to this community and has the means. He’s the definition of a flight risk.”
I don’t hear the remaining of what she says as the gavel bangs on the wood and she stands, leaving the room.